Service retrieval apparatus and service retrieval method

ABSTRACT

A service retrieval apparatus stores service data items, each including two words as input and output items and expression as condition, receives request data item including word as input item and expression as condition, acquires first word set which is set of words having meanings identical/similar to meaning of word as input item in request data item, retrieves group of service data items in each of which one word of first word set is included as input item, calculates condition similarity between meaning of expression in each one of group and meaning of expression in request data item, calculates priority of each one of group based on similarity between word as input item in each one of group and word as input item in request data item and condition similarity, and transmits list including priority and address of appliance which correspond to each one of group to first appliance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-301267, filed Aug. 26, 2003,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technique of retrieving a desiredfunction among a plurality of home appliances respectively havingdifferent functions.

2. Description of the Related Art

The following are existing appliance/device connectivity techniques andtheir characteristics.

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) is a technique of performing retrievalbased on the type names of appliances/devices, the type names ofdevices, and device names. HAVi (Home Audio/Video interoperability) is atechnique of performing retrieval based on IDs and attributes (functiontype names and vendor names) and a standard for AV appliances. There issome technique of performing retrieval based on the functions ofappliances as well as the types of appliances.

Assume that the number of appliances that can simultaneously access oneappliance is determined in advance. For such a case, there is alsoavailable a technique (exclusive control) for allowing access to theappliance within this limit (e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI PublicationNo. 2001-196636).

Conventionally, connection between appliances (devices), has beenestablished by using the type names of appliances (devices), limitationsand the like predetermined for the respective appliances. However, sincethe names of the respective appliances, the name of an appliance to befound at the time of retrieval, limitations of the respectiveappliances, and the like are statically written in advance in therespective appliances, only static connection relationships can beestablished.

According to the conventional techniques described above, therefore, itis difficult to retrieve an optimal appliance suitable for one ofvarious kinds of requests from various kinds of appliances among variouskinds of functions (services) used in the home and appliances that areassumed to be in various states.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a service retrievalapparatus and service retrieval method which can easily retrieve optimalappliances suitable for one of various kinds of requests from variouskinds of appliances among various appliances which perform various kindsof functions (services) used in the home and which are assumed to be invarious states.

(1) According to first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a service retrieval apparatus which retrieves, from a pluralityof service functions of a plurality of appliances, a service functionidentical or similar to a first function requested from a firstappliance which is one of the appliances, comprising: a first storingunit configured to store a plurality of service data items, each of theservice data items including a word corresponding to an input item, aword corresponding to an output item, and an expression corresponding toa condition, the input and output items representing one of the servicefunctions; a second storing unit configured to store a plurality ofwords and information representing correlations among the words on thebasis of meanings of the words; a first receiving unit configured toreceive a request data item which is transmitted from the firstappliance and includes at least a word corresponding to the input itemof the input and output items representing the first function, and anexpression corresponding to the condition; an acquiring unit configuredto acquire, from the words stored in the second storing unit, a firstword set which is a set of words having meanings identical or similar toa meaning of the word corresponding to the input item in the requestdata item; a retrieving unit configured to retrieve, from the servicedata items, a group of service data items in each of which one word ofthe first word set is included as the input item; a first calculatingunit configured to calculate a condition similarity between a meaning ofan expression corresponding to the condition in each service data itemof the group and a meaning of an expression corresponding to thecondition in the request data item; a second calculating unit configuredto calculate a priority of the each service data item of the group onthe basis of a first similarity between the word corresponding to theinput item in the each service data item and the word corresponding tothe input item in the request data item and the condition similarity;and a first transmitting unit configured to transmit a list to the firstappliance, the list including at least the priority an address of anappliance of the appliances which correspond to the each service dataitem of the group.

(2) According to second aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a service retrieval method for retrieving, from a plurality ofservice functions of a plurality of appliances, a service functionidentical or similar to a first function requested from a firstappliance which is one of the appliances, the method comprising: (a)storing a plurality of service data items in the first memory device,each of the service data items including a word corresponding to aninput item, a word corresponding to an output item, and an expressioncorresponding to a condition, the input and output items representingone of the service functions; (b) storing a plurality of words andinformation representing correlations among the words on the basis ofmeanings of the words, in the second memory device; (c) receiving arequest data item which is transmitted from the first appliance andincludes at least a word corresponding to the input item of the inputand output items representing the first function, and an expressioncorresponding to the condition; (d) acquiring from the words stored inthe second memory device, a first word set which is a set of wordshaving meanings identical or similar to a meaning of the wordcorresponding to the input item in the request data item; (e) retrievingfrom the service data items, a group of service data items in each ofwhich one word of the first word set is included as the input item; (f)calculating a condition similarity between a meaning of an expressioncorresponding to the condition in each service data item of the groupand a meaning of an expression corresponding to the condition in therequest data item; (g) calculating a priority of the each service dataitem of the group on the basis of a first similarity between the wordcorresponding to the input item in the each service data item and theword corresponding to the input item in the request data item and thecondition similarity; and (h) transmitting a list to the firstappliance, the list including at least the priority and an address of anappliance of the appliances which correspond to the each service dataitem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of the overall schematic arrangementof a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the arrangement of ahome server;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the arrangement of anappliance;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another example of the arrangement ofthe appliance;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of the data format of a servicedescription file;

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of the data format of a requestservice description file;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of how service description files arestored;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of an ontology stored in avocabulary storing unit;

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a method of calculating a conditionsimilarity;

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining a method of calculating a conditionsimilarity;

FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of a list of rules between aplurality of expressions described in conditions;

FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a list of retrieval results;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart for explaining the processing operation of thesystem shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for explaining service retrieval processingoperation in a matchmaker unit;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for explaining condition similarity calculationprocessing operation;

FIG. 16 is a view for explaining another processing operation in thesystem shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the first arrangement example of aserver;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for explaining another processing operation inthe system;

FIG. 19 is a view showing another example of how service descriptionfiles are stored;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart for explaining still another processingoperation in the system;

FIG. 21 is a view for explaining still another processing operation inthe system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing the second arrangement example of theserver;

FIG. 23 is a flow chart for explaining still another processingapparatus in the system;

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the third arrangement example of theserver; and

FIG. 25 is a flow chart for explaining still another processingoperation in the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall arrangement of a system obtainedby connecting the first network having a plurality of appliances TE1 toTE9 and a home server 1 and the second network such as the Internetthrough the home server 1.

The plurality of appliances TE1 to TE9 are appliances (e.g., homeelectric appliances) such as a video recorder, TV set, telephone,refrigerator, microwave oven, washing machine, personal computer,printer, and cell phone, which are often used in the home. The firstnetwork obtained by connecting these appliances to the home server 1through 100Base-TX, IEEE802.11a, b, g, IEEE1394, HomePlug, or the likewill be referred to as a home network. The home server 1 is so connectedto a provider for connection to the second network (the Internet in thiscase) as to be communicable through a telephone line, indoor wire,optical fiber, radio, or the like.

The appliances TE1 to TE9 and home server 1 respectively have addressesfor communication with other appliances in the home network or connectedto the Internet. Assume that the addresses of the home server 1 and theappliances TE1 to TE9 are “AD0” to “AD9”, respectively.

A server 100 is connected to the Internet. Assume that the address ofthe server 100 is “Add100”.

In general, some home servers have various functions, e.g., temporarilystoring TV broadcast programs, data broadcasts, and large-volumecontents provided through the network to realize “home video/data ondemand”. The home server 1 in FIG. 1 has a service retrieval function(matchmaker) of retrieving, from the service functions (to be describedlater) of the respective appliances TE1 to TE9, a service functionidentical or similar to the content of the service requested from one ofthe appliances TE1 to TE9. The home server 1 also has a function ofcontrolling communication among the respective appliances TE1 to TE9connected inside the home network and an interface function forcommunication between appliances on the Internet and the respectiveappliances TE1 to TE9 connected inside the home network.

The appliances TE1 to TE9 respectively have unique functions (mainfunctions). For example, the appliance TE2 has a TV function as its mainfunction, and the appliance TE8 has a printer function as its mainfunction. Functions of the main functions of the respective appliancesTE1 to TE9 which can be offered to other appliances will be referred toas service functions. A file that represents the content of the servicefunction of each of the appliances TE1 to TE9, the current state of theappliance, and the like will be referred to as a service descriptionfile. The home server 1 stores the service description files sent fromthe respective appliances TE1 to TE9.

All or some of the appliances TE1 to TE9 implement desired functions byborrowing the service functions of other appliances. A function ofimplementing desired operation by borrowing the service functions ofother appliances will be referred to as a service request function. Ofthe appliances TE1 to TE9, an appliance having the service requestfunction transmits, to the home server 1, a description file (requestservice description file) in which the content of a service which theappliance requests of other appliances and a condition of the currentstate or the like of the other appliances are described.

Upon receiving a request service description file from any appliance(request source appliance) of the appliances TE1 to TE9, the home server1 retrieves one more service description files in each of which aservice that satisfies (or is identical or similar to) the content ofthe service described in the request service description file, from thestored service description files (function retrieval). The home server 1further retrieves, from retrieved one or more service description fileswhich are function retrieval results, one or more service descriptionfiles in each of which a condition that satisfies (or is identical orsimilar to) the condition described in the request service descriptionfile (condition retrieval).

A combination of function retrieval and condition retrieval maysometimes be called service retrieval. The service retrieval results arethen transmitted to the request source appliance.

The request source appliance selects one of a plurality of servicedescription files included in the retrieval results. The request sourceappliance then requests another appliance corresponding to the selectedservice description file to execute the service. As a consequence, therequest source appliance can realize desired operation by borrowing theservice function of the another appliance which corresponds to theselected service description file.

FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of the arrangement of the mainpart of the home server 1. The home server 1 is roughly constituted by aservice description file storing unit 2, registration unit 3, firsttransceiver unit 4, second transceiver unit 5, and matchmaker unit 11.

The first transceiver unit 4 receives various kinds of packets(messages) transmitted from the respective appliances TE1 to TE9, andtransmits various kinds of packets to the respective appliances TE1 toTE9 through the home network.

If no appliance corresponding to the destination address of the packedreceived by the first transceiver unit 4 exists on the home network(e.g., if the packet is addressed to an appliance on the Internet or theserver 100), the second transceiver unit 5 sends out the packet to theInternet. The second transceiver unit 5 also receives packets addressedto the home server 1 and the appliances TE1 to TE9 from the Internet. Inaddition, the second transceiver unit 5 transmits packets that aregenerated inside the home server 1 and addressed to an appliance on theInternet or the server 100.

Upon receiving packets including service description files which aretransmitted from the appliances TE1 to TE9 on the home network, thefirst transceiver unit 4 transfers the packets to the registration unit3. The registration unit 3 stores the service description files in theservice description file storing unit 2.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the data format of a service descriptionfile. In a service description file, the following at least three piecesof information are described: an input item and output item whichrepresent the service function provided by each of the appliances TE1 toTE9, and a condition representing the current state or the like of eachof the appliances TE1 to TE9. In the input item, a word concerning ainput method of the service function is described. In an output item, aword concerning output method of the service function output method isdescribed. For example, in the input item of a service description file,information designating input information data, an input signal, or thelike, e.g., the type (data type) of input information data or an inputsignal, is described. In the output item of the service descriptionfile, information concerning an output method is described, for example,information indicating how to process information data or a signaldesignated by the input item when it is input and in which format it isoutput. In the condition of the service description file, for example,the current state of an appliance which provides the correspondingservice is described.

In the service description file shown in FIG. 5, the service providedfrom the appliance TE2 (TV set) is described. In the input item,“message” is descried, and in the output item, “displayable” isdescribed. This indicates that “a message is received as an input, anddisplayed as an output”. In the condition, “power (on)” is described.This indicates that the power supply of the appliance TE2 is ON. If“operated within past 30 min” is described as a condition in the servicedescription file, it indicates that the user was present near theappliance within past 30 min.

If, for example, the power supply of the appliance TE2 is turned off,the state of the appliance TE2 changes. The appliance TE2 thentransmits, to the home server 1, a new service description file obtainedby rewriting the above condition into the description “power (off)”corresponding to this state. In this manner, every time the state ofeach of the appliances TE1 to TE9 changes (every time the conditiondescribed in a service description file changes), each appliancetransmits a service description file in the format shown in FIG. 5 tothe home server 1.

The registration unit 3 of the home server 1 stores the servicedescription files of the respective appliances TE1 to TE9 in the servicedescription file storing unit 2, as shown in FIG. 7. The servicedescription files transmitted from the respective appliances TE1 to TE9are stored in the service description file storing unit 2 incorrespondence with the addresses of the appliances TE1 to TE9. FIG. 7shows a case wherein the addresses (pointer information) of the storageareas in the service description file storing unit 2 in which theservice description files are actually stored, and the addresses of therespective appliances TE1 to TE9 are stored in pairs.

Of the appliances TE1 to TE9, appliances like a TV set, video recorder,and personal computer, i.e., the appliances TE1, TE2, and TE7, haveadvanced functions, and may have an arrangement like that shown in FIG.2 so as to also serve as the home server 1.

Referring to back to FIG. 2, the matchmaker unit 11 is constituted by arequest input unit 12, function retrieval unit 13, condition retrievalunit 14, vocabulary storing unit 15, retrieval result output unit 16,vocabulary acquiring unit 17, condition converting unit 18, serviceretrieval requesting unit 19, and adjusting unit 20.

Upon receiving packets including the request service description filestransmitted from the appliances TE1 to TE9 on the home network, thefirst transceiver unit 4 transfers the request service description filesto the request input unit 12 of the matchmaker unit 11.

Each request service description file has the same format as that of theservice description file shown in FIG. 5. That is, as shown in FIG. 6,an input item, output item, and condition are described in each requestservice description file. In the input item of a request servicedescription file, information designating input information data, aninput signal, or the like, e.g., the type (data type) of informationdata or a signal to be input to a desired service function, isdescribed. In the output item of the request service description file,information concerning an output method of a desired service function isdescribed. In the condition of the request service description file, acondition for the current state of the like of an appliance having thedesired service function is described.

The request service description file shown in FIG. 6 as an example istransmitted from the appliance TE8 (printer). In the input item,“string” is described, and in the output item, “displayable”. Thisdesignates a service function of “receiving a string as an input anddisplaying it as an output”. In the condition, “power (on)” isdescribed. This designates that the power supply is ON with respect tothe remote appliance. In the condition of the request servicedescription file, information for designating the state of the remoteappliance is described as in the case of the condition of a servicedescription file.

The function retrieval unit 13 retrieves a service function semanticallyidentical or similar to the service function described in a requestservice description file. More specifically, the function retrieval unit13 obtains words identical or similar to the words described in theinput and output items of the request service description file. Thefunction retrieval unit 13 activates the vocabulary acquiring unit 17.The vocabulary acquiring unit 17 obtains words identical or similar tothe words described in the input and output items of the request servicedescription file from the words stored in the vocabulary storing unit15, and also obtains the similarities between the obtained words andthose described in the input and output items. The vocabulary acquiringunit 17 transfers only words exhibiting similarities equal to or higherthan a predetermined threshold to the function retrieval unit 13.

The vocabulary storing unit 15 stores an ontology which expresses, inthe form of a graph, a plurality of words and the correlation betweenthe plurality of words on the basis of their meanings. FIG. 8 shows anexample of the ontology stored in the vocabulary storing unit 15. In thevocabulary storing unit 15, the respective words expressed by nodes, andcorrelative words are connected through a branch. In correspondence witheach branch, the similarity between words is stored.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the words “integer”, “string”, and“boolean” are connected as child nodes to the word “signal”. Forexample, the similarity between the words “signal” and “integer” isassociated with the branch that connects these words. The same appliesbetween the words “signal” and “string” and between the words “signal”and “boolean”. Words having the same meaning are expressed on the samelevel (the same layer).

As shown in FIG. 8, since the words “integer” and “code” are identicalto each other, the two words are on the same level, and expressed as onenode when viewed from the word “signal” as a parent node. Referring toFIG. 8, the branch that connects identical words is expressed by adouble line.

Assume that one of a plurality of nodes constituting an ontology isregarded as a base node. The vocabulary acquiring unit 17 sets the wordsrespectively described in the input and output items of a requestservice description file as words at the base node, and searches theontology for words identical or similar to the words at the base node.In general, a word at a node (parent node or the like) located upstreamof the base node may extend the meaning included in a word at the basenode. On the other hand, a word at a node (child node or the like)located downstream of the base node may limit the meaning included in aword at the base node. For the sake of simplicity, assume that thevocabulary acquiring unit 17 searches the base node and nodes located onthe same level as that of the base node or located downstream thereoffor words. A retrieval condition designates in which direction and towhich degree nodes are traced. This retrieval condition is designated bythe user or an appliance.

The simplest one of the methods of calculating the similarity (thedistance in the ontology) between a word at a base node and a wordlocated downstream thereof will be described. The method to be used inthis embodiment is not limited to this method.

As the similarity between words at child nodes directly connected to thebase node, the similarity associated with the branch that connects thebase node to the child node is used without any change. The similaritybetween a word at the base node and a word at a child node of the childnode (a grandchild node from the viewpoint of the base node) decreasesin proportion to the distance between the nodes. That is, since thenodes are spaced apart from each other by two generations, the valueobtained by multiplying the similarities associated with the twobranches that connect the nodes is set as the similarity between thebase node and the grandchild node. Likewise, the value obtained bymultiplying the similarities associated with the three branches thatconnect the base node and a great-grandchild node is set as thesimilarity between the nodes.

As described above, as a node is spaced apart from a base node in thedownstream direction (as a node is separated from a base node ingeneration), a similarity with a word at the base node decreases. Assumethat the similarity between “signal” and its child node “boolean” is“0.8”, and that between “boolean” and its child node “displayable” is“0.7”. Since “signal” is spaced apart from “displayable” by two nodes,the result obtained by multiplying the similarities associated with thetwo branches that connect them is set as a similarity between “signal”and “displayable”. That is, 0.8×0.7=0.56.

The vocabulary acquiring unit 17 sets the word described in the inputitem of a request service description file at a base node in theontology tree, and obtains a word (including the word in the input item)having a meaning identical or similar to the meaning of the word in theinput item (exhibiting a similarity equal to or higher than apredetermined threshold). Data sets are then obtained, each of which isconstituted by each of the obtained words and the similarity with theword in the input item. If there are a plurality of input items, thevocabulary acquiring unit 17 obtains such data sets equal in number tothe words in the input items.

In other words, the vocabulary acquiring unit 17 obtains data sets eachconstituted by a node (word) within a predetermined distance from a nodecorresponding to the word in an input item and a similarity therewith.

In this case, the above set obtained with respect to one word describedin such an input item will be referred to as an “input item word set”.

Likewise, the vocabulary acquiring unit 17 sets the word described inthe output item of a request service description file at a base node inthe ontology tree, and obtains a word (including the word in the outputitem) having a meaning identical or similar to the meaning of the wordin the output item (exhibiting a similarity equal to or higher than apredetermined threshold). Data sets are then obtained, each of which isconstituted by each of the obtained words and the similarity with theword in the output item. If there are a plurality of output items, thevocabulary acquiring unit 17 obtains such data sets equal in number tothe words in the output items.

In other words, the vocabulary acquiring unit 17 obtains data sets eachconstituted by a node (word) within a predetermined distance from a nodecorresponding to the word in an output item and a similarity therewith.

In this case, the above set obtained with respect to one word describedin such an output item will be referred to as an “output item word set”.

The function retrieval unit 13 obtains a plurality of servicedescription files, from the service description files stored in theservice description file storing unit 2, each of which has any one ofthe words in the input item word sets as the word in the input item, andalso has any one of the words in the output items as the word in theoutput item. The function retrieval unit 13 then calculates the servicesimilarities between a plurality of (or one) service description filesand the request service description file.

For example, a service similarity is obtained in the following manner.The simplest method for this operation will be described as an example.It is checked whether there is any word in the input item of a servicedescription file which coincides with the input item word set (of therequest service description file) obtained by the vocabulary acquiringunit 17. If there is such a word, the similarity assigned to the word isacquired. The sum of this similarity and the similarity between the wordin the output item of the service description file (one of the words inthe output item word sets obtained by the vocabulary acquiring unit 17)and the word in the output item of the request service description fileis set as the similarity between the service description file and therequest service description file. The sum is regarded as a servicesimilarity. The plurality of service description files obtained by thefunction retrieval unit 13 in this manner are transferred as retrievalresult candidates to the condition retrieval unit 14.

The condition retrieval unit 14 calculates the similarities (conditionsimilarities) between the expressions of the conditions in the pluralityof service description files as the retrieval result candidates obtainedby the function retrieval unit 13 and the expression of the condition inthe request service description file.

The simplest example of a condition similarity calculation method willbe described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 15. Assume thatthe expression (to be referred to as AR) described in the condition in arequest service description file is “displayable” (step S111), as shownin FIG. 9. Assume also that the expression (to be referred to as BR)described in the condition in a service description file which is one ofretrieval result candidates is “displayable” (steps S112 and S113). Inthis case, since the two expressions coincide with each other (stepS114), the condition similarity is the maximum value “1.0” (step S115).

Another example of the condition similarity calculation method will bedescribed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 15. In this case, acondition similarity is calculated by a technique of determining thesemantic difference between words and the inclusive relationship betweenconditions. Therefore, similarity and condition inclusive relationshipare not treated as different. Assume that the expression (AR) describedin the condition in a request service description file is “within 10min”, as shown in FIG. 10 (step S111). Assume also that the expression(BR) described in the condition in a service description file as one ofretrieval candidates is “within 5 min” (step S113). In this case, sincea time within 5 min always falls within 10 min, the two expressions areregarded as semantically identical (step S114), and the conditionsimilarity is set to the maximum value “1.0” (step S115).

In this embodiment, since the scenes in which the respective appliancesTE1 to TE9 are used are limited within the home network, the types ofexpressions described in the conditions in service description files andrequest service description files are limited to some extent. Withinthis limited number of expressions, rules that express the correlationsamong the respective expressions on the basis of their meanings can bedetermined in advance. Letting XA and XB be two arbitrary expressions ofa plurality of expressions, such a rule can, for example, be expressedby a combination of two expressions having the relationship “if XA, thenXB”. FIG. 11 shows an example of a list of rules among a plurality ofexpressions described in conditions. Assume that there are two rulesstating that if “there is operation log recorded within 3 min”, then“user is present nearby”, and if “user is present nearby”, then“emergency contact can be reached”. In this case, if the condition in arequest service description file is “emergency contact can be reached”,the expressions “user is present nearby” and “there is operation logrecorded within 3 min” are regarded identical to the condition“emergency contact can be reached”, the condition similarity is then setto the maximum value “1.0”.

Assume that there are expressions XA, XB, and XC, and rules stating that“if XA, then XB” and “if XB, then XC”. In this case, since “if XA, thenXC”, “XA” and “XC” are regarded identical. Although “XA” and “XB” can bedetermined as identical expressions according to one rule, “XA” and “XC”cannot be determined as identical expressions without using the tworules. Therefore, the semantic distance (similarity) between “XA” and“XB” is shorter than that between “XA” and “XC”. That is, the latterpair can be regarded as expressions the similarity between which islower. When two expressions are regarded identical, the similaritybetween the two expressions may be obtained in accordance with thenumber of rules required for one of the two expressions to reach theother expression. If, for example, the two expressions can be determinedas identical according to only one rule, the similarity is set to “1.0”.If the two expressions can be determined as identical according to tworules, the similarity is set to “0.9”. In this manner, the similarity isdecreased as the number of rules increases.

A list like the one shown in FIG. 11 is stored in the vocabulary storingunit 15. A method of calculating condition similarities using the listshown in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flow chart ofFIG. 15. The expression (to be simply referred to as “AR”) described inthe condition in a request service description file and the expression(to be simply referred to as “BR”) described in the condition in one ofa plurality of service description files obtained as retrieval resultcandidates include no numerical range such as time ranges.Coincidence/incoincidence determination cannot therefore be performed instep S114 (steps S111 to S114). For this reason, the condition retrievalunit 14 activates the condition converting unit 18, and transfers theexpression (to be simply referred as “AR”) described in the condition inthe request service description file and the expression (to be simplyreferred to as “BR”) described in the condition in one of the pluralityof service description files obtained as retrieval result candidates tothe condition converting unit 18.

The condition converting unit 18 checks whether BR is reached from AR inthe list shown in FIG. 11 considering AR as a base point (i.e., whetherAR can be converted into BR). The condition converting unit 18 alsochecks whether AR is reached from BR in the list shown in FIG. 11considering BR as a base point (i.e., whether BR can be converted intoAR). If conversion can be performed from any one of AR and BR to theother, the condition retrieval unit 14 regards them as identical (stepS116), and gives “1.0” as a condition similarity (step S117). Ifconversion cannot be performed from any one of AR and BR to the other,the condition retrieval unit 14 regards them as nonidentical (stepS116), and sets the condition similarity to a value near “0”, e.g.,“0.1” (step S118).

The condition retrieval unit 14 calculates condition similarities withrespect to all service description files as retrieval result candidatesas in steps S114 to S118 (step S119).

The condition retrieval unit 14 may narrow down the number of retrievalresult candidates by deleting files of the service description filesobtained as retrieval results by function retrieval which exhibitcondition similarities equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold.The condition retrieval unit 14 obtains the product of a servicesimilarity and a condition similarity with respect to each servicedescription file as a retrieval result candidate. This product is set asthe priority of the service description file. A list of the respectiveservice description files as retrieval result candidates whosepriorities have been calculated and the addresses of appliancescorresponding to the respective service description files is transferredto the retrieval result output unit 16.

The retrieval result output unit 16 sorts the service description filesin descending order of priority. The retrieval result output unit 16then outputs a list including service description files, the addressesof appliances, and priorities, like the one shown in FIG. 12, to thefirst transceiver unit 4. The priorities are numbers sequentiallyassigned in descending order of priority. The highest priority is “1”.The first transceiver unit 4 transmits packets containing the list tothe appliance as the transmission source (request source) on the homenetwork which has sent the request service description file. Note that alist of retrieval results may include at least the addresses ofappliances and priorities.

The first transceiver unit 4 measures a response time from the instantat which packets are transmitted to an appliance on the home network tothe instant at which the corresponding acknowledgement is received. Thesecond transceiver unit 5 measures a response time from the instant atwhich packets are transmitted to an appliance on the Internet to theinstant at which the corresponding acknowledgement is received.

The adjusting unit 20 adjusts the data amount of a list to betransmitted as a retrieval result in accordance with a bandwidth useablefor communication with the first and second transceiver units 4 and 5.If, for example, the above response times measured by the first andsecond transceiver units 4 and 5 are equal to or more than predeterminedtimes, the adjusting unit 20 outputs control signals to the functionretrieval unit 13, condition retrieval unit 14, and retrieval resultoutput unit 16 to reduce the data amount of retrieval result list.

Upon receiving a control signal from the adjusting unit 20, theretrieval result output unit 16 reduces the number of retrieval resultsor the data amount of service description files in the list. Forexample, the retrieval result output unit 16 deletes a servicedescription file itself from the list. Alternatively, the retrievalresult output unit 16 deletes part of a service description file in thelist, or deletes a service description file with the lowest priority.

Upon receiving a control signal from the adjusting unit 20, the functionretrieval unit 13 increases the similarity threshold (the maximumdistance in the ontology) for the words acquired by the vocabularyacquiring unit 17 to decrease the number of words included in each ofthe input item word set and the output item words set. A servicedescription file whose service similarity is less than a predeterminedthreshold is deleted from retrieval result candidates. The above twooperations may be simultaneously performed.

Upon receiving a control signal from the adjusting unit 20, thecondition retrieval unit 14 deletes a service description file whosecondition similarity is less than a predetermined threshold fromretrieval result candidates. Alternatively, the condition retrieval unit14 deletes a service description file whose priority is less than apredetermined threshold from retrieval result candidates. The above twooperations may be simultaneously performed.

The arrangement each of the appliances TE1 to TE9 on the home networkwill be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 shows anexample of the arrangement of an appliance of the appliances TE1 to TE9which has a service request function. FIG. 4 shows an example of thearrangement of an appliance having no service request function. Theappliance shown in FIG. 3 is roughly constituted by a main function unit51, matchmaker interface unit 53, and transceiver 52. The main functionunit 51 implements a function unique to the appliance. The transceiver52 serves to transmit/receive various kinds of packets through the homenetwork.

The matchmaker interface unit 53 is constituted by a matchmakersearching unit 61, service registration unit 62, service retrievalrequesting unit 63, service calling unit 64, service executing unit 65,description file generating unit 66, and adjusting unit 67.

When the appliance is connected to the home network, the matchmakersearching unit 61 generates packets (matchmaker search packets) forsearching for the matchmaker on the home network. The description filegenerating unit 66 monitors the state of the second transceiver unit 5,and generates a service description file every time the state changes.The description file generating unit 66 stores in advance a servicedescription file in which input and output items are described inadvance, and describes a new condition in the condition in thedescription file every time the state of the main function unit 51changes, thereby generating a new service description file. Every time anew service description file is generated, the service registration unit62 generates packets containing the service description file.

The service retrieval requesting unit 63 generates a request servicedescription packet. The service calling unit 64 generates a packet(service calling packet) for requesting the execution of a service to anappliance corresponding to the service description file selected fromthe retrieval result list sent from the matchmaker. Upon receiving theservice calling packet transmitted from another appliance, the serviceexecuting unit 65 transfers to the main function unit 51, the data,signal, or the like contained in the packet and transmitted from theanother appliance, and starts executing the service function.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is equivalent to the arrangement shownin FIG. 3 from which the service retrieval requesting unit 63 as aservice requesting function and the service calling unit 64 are omitted.

As described above, the matchmaker unit 11 retrieves a servicedescription file in which a service (input and output items) andcondition which are semantically identical or similar to those describedin a request service description file are described.

Processing operation between the appliances TE1 to TE9 and the homeserver will be described next with reference to the flow chart of FIG.13. The case wherein the printer as the appliance TE8 serving as aservice request source submits a service request to the TV set as theappliance TE2 will be exemplified. Consider a case wherein if an errorsuch as paper out occurs in the printer when the user is watching TVwhile causing the printer to perform large-volume printing, the printeroutputs a message indicating the error in the printer to the TV set nearwhich the user is expected to be present, instead of outputting theerror message to the personal computer connected to the printer.

First of all, when connected to the home network, the printer as theappliance TE8 (to be simply referred to as a printer TE8 hereinafter)broadcasts a matchmaker search packet into the home network to check thepresence/absence of a matchmaker and the address of the matchmaker (stepS1). When connected to the home network, the TV set as the appliance TE2(to be simply referred to as a TV TE2 hereinafter) also broadcasts amatchmaker search packet into the home network (step S2). The sameapplies to the other appliances.

The home server 1 has the matchmaker unit 11. Upon receiving the abovematchmaker search makers, therefore, the home server 1 transmits ACKpackets each containing the address “AD0” of the home server 1 to thepacket transmission sources, respectively (steps S3 and S4). The printerTE8 transmits packets containing the self service description file andthe address “AD8” to the home server 1 (step S5). Upon receiving thepackets, the home server 1 registers the service description file andthe address of the printer TE8 contained in the packets in the servicedescription file storing unit 2 (step S6). Likewise, the TV TE2transmits packets containing the self service description file and theaddress “AD2” to the home server 1 (step S7). Upon receiving thepackets, the home server 1 registers the service description file andthe address of the TV TE2 contained in the packets in the servicedescription file storing unit 2 (step S8). The same applies to the otherappliances.

Assume that the above error occurs in the printer TE8. In this case, theprinter TE8 transmits, to the home server 1, packets containing arequest service description file (input item: string, output item:displayable, condition: user is present nearby) in which a service of“inputting character string and displaying it” and the condition that“user is present nearby” are described and the address “AD8” (step S9).Upon receiving the above request service description file, the homeserver 1 causes the matchmaker unit 11 to execute service retrievalprocessing (step S10).

Service retrieval processing will be described with reference to theflow chart of FIG. 14. When the above request service description fileis input to the request input unit 12 of the matchmaker unit 11 (stepS101), the description file is transferred to the function retrievalunit 13. The function retrieval unit 13 activates the vocabularyacquiring unit 17.

The vocabulary acquiring unit 17 acquires an input item word setcorresponding to the word “string” described in the input item of therequest service description file. In this case, for example, thevocabulary acquiring unit 17 acquires “string” (similarity “1.0”) and“message” (similarity “1.0”). The vocabulary acquiring unit 17 alsoacquires an output item word set corresponding to the word “displayable”described in the output item of the request service description file.Assume that in this case, for example, the vocabulary acquiring unit 17acquires only “displayable” (similarity “1.0”) (step S102).

The function retrieval unit 13 then obtains, among the servicedescription files stored in the service description file storing unit 2,a plurality of (or one) service description files whose words describedin the input items are identical or similar to any word of the inputitem word set (step S103). The function retrieval unit 13 also obtains,among the above plurality of (or one) service description files, aplurality of (or one) service description files whose words described inthe output items are identical or similar to any word of the output itemword set (step S104).

In addition to the TV set as the appliance TE2, the cell phone as theappliance TE9, the personal computer as the appliance TE7, and the likehave service functions of inputting the character string “string” anddisplaying it. Therefore, in the service semantic retrieval in stepsS102 to S104, the service description files of the appliances TE2, TE9,and TE7 are obtained as retrieval result candidates. The functionretrieval unit 13 calculates a service similarity with respect to eachservice description file.

The condition retrieval unit 14 then calculates the conditionsimilarities between the expressions described in the conditions in theabove three service description files and the expression “user ispresent nearby” described in the condition in the request servicedescription file according to the sequence shown in FIG. 15 (step S105).Assume that of the above three service description files, the conditionin the service description file of the TV TE2 is “there is operation logrecorded within 3 min”, and the conditions in the service descriptionfiles of the appliances TE7 and TE9 are “power off”. In this case, AR is“user is present nearby”. If, therefore, “there is operation logrecorded within 3 min” is set as BR, conversion from BR to AR can bedone (step S116 in FIG. 15), as is obvious from the list shown in FIG.11. In this case, the condition similarity between AR and BR is “1.0”(step S117). If BR is “power off”, since conversion cannot be done (stepS116), the condition similarity between AR and BR is a value near “0”,e.g., “0.1” (step S118).

Referring back to FIG. 14, the condition retrieval unit 14 obtains theproduct (priority) of a service similarity and a condition similaritywith respect to each service description file as a retrieval resultcandidate (step S106). Obviously, in this case, the TV TE2 has thehighest priority. This retrieval result indicates that the highestpriority is assigned to the service description file of the TV set asthe appliance TE2, of the plurality of appliances TE2, TE7, and TE9having the same service function, near which the user is expected to bepresent.

Referring back to FIG. 13, a list of respective service descriptionfiles as retrieval result candidates whose priorities have beencalculated and the addresses of appliances corresponding to therespective service description files is transferred to the retrievalresult output unit 16. The retrieval result output unit 16 transmits thelist of service description files and the addresses of appliances, likethe one shown in FIG. 12, to the printer TE8 as a request source throughthe first transceiver unit 4 (step S11).

The printer TE8 selects a service description file with the highestpriority from the retrieval result list (step S12). That is, the printerTE8 selects the service description file of the TV TE2. The printer TE8then transmits a service calling packet containing an error message tothe TV TE2 (step S13). Upon receiving the packet, the TV TE2 transfersthe error message contained in the packet to the main function unit 51,and displays the error message on the TV screen (step S14).

The above operation is the basic operation in the home network in thesystem shown in FIG. 1. The above embodiment has exemplified the casewherein only one expression is described in the condition in a requestservice description file or service description file. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of expressionsmay be described. If there are a plurality of expressions describingconditions, the number of service description files of retrieval resultcandidates can be further narrowed down.

Second Embodiment

Another processing operation of the system shown in FIG. 1 will bedescribed next. A home server 1 and appliances TE1 to TE9 in a homenetwork can entrust service retrieval processing to a server 100 havinga matchmaker unit on the Internet. When, for example, the appliances TE1and TE2 also serve as the home server 1, the calculation resources areprobably small. In addition, each appliance must execute its originalfunction. If such an appliance is to execute the above service retrievalprocessing, a heavy load is imposed on the appliance. Entrusting serviceretrieval processing to a server other than a home server, which has amatchmaker unit, is more efficient than making only the home serverexecute the service retrieval processing.

The server 100 on the Internet performs retrieval processing in thefollowing two cases: in the first case, the server 100 sets, as aretrieval target, service description files stored in a servicedescription file storing unit 2 in the server 100 (see FIG. 16), and inthe second case, the server 100 sets, as a retrieval target, servicedescription files stored in a service description file storing unit 2 inthe home server 1 (see FIG. 21). Each of the (first case) and (secondcase) will be described below.

(1) In the first case, the server 100 on the Internet must discriminatecountless home servers 1 connected to the Internet. As shown in FIG. 16,therefore, the server 100 has an ID assigning unit 102 for assigning IDsto the respective home servers.

FIG. 17 shows an example of the arrangement (first arrangement example)of the server 100 in FIG. 16. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 2denote the same parts in FIG. 17, and only different portions will bedescribed. Referring to FIG. 17, the first and second transceiver units4 and 5 in FIG. 2 are replaced with a transceiver unit 101. In addition,the ID assigning unit 102 is added to the server 100. The transceiverunit 101 transmits/receives various kinds of packets to/from the homeserver 1 and the appliances TE1 to TE9 (through the home server 1). TheID assigning unit 102 serves to assign one ID to one home server 1. Forexample, the service description files of the respective appliances TE1to TE9 under the control of the home server 1 are stored in the servicedescription file storing unit 2 in correspondence with the IDscorresponding to the home servers 1.

Assume that the address “add100” of the server 100 is stored in each ofthe home server 1 and the appliances TE1 to TE9. When the appliances TE1to TE9 transmit packets addressed to the server 100, the packets alwaysgo through the home server 1. Therefore, the address of the transmissionsource of the packet is the address of the home server 1 when viewedfrom the server 100. In addition, in the initial state of the homeserver 1, the home server 1 and the appliances TE1 to TE9 do not knowthe IDs assigned to the home servers 1 by the server 100.

The above operation will be described below with reference to FIG. 18.Assume that the server 100 has received packets (containing a servicedescription file and the address of an appliance) transmitted from oneof the appliances TE1 to TE9 (e.g., the appliance TE8) (step S21). Inthis case, if no ID has been assigned to the address of the transmissionsource of the packets (the address of the home server 1 when viewed fromthe server 100), the ID assigning unit 102 assigns an ID (e.g., “ID1”)to the address of the home server 1. A registration unit 3 stores theservice description file and the address of the appliance contained inthe received packets in correspondence with the ID (step S22). Theserver 100 transmits the packets containing the ID assigned to the homeserver 1 and the address of the appliance TE8 to the home server 1 (stepS23). Upon receiving the packets through the home server 1, theappliance TE8 extracts the ID contained in the packets, and stores it(step S24).

When one (e.g., the appliance TE2) of the appliances TE1 to TE9 whichdoes not know the ID of the home server 1 transmits packets containing aservice description file and the address of the appliance to the server100 (step S25), the server 100 stores the service description filecontained in the packets, together with the ID corresponding to the homeserver 1, as shown in FIG. 19 (step S26). The server 100 then transmitsthe packets containing the ID of the home server 1 and the address ofthe appliance TE2 to the home server 1 (step S27). Upon receiving thepackets through the home server 1, the appliance TE2 extracts the IDcontained in the packets and stores it (step S28).

Subsequently, one (e.g., the appliance TE8) of the appliances TE1 to TE9in which the ID (“ID1”) of the home server 1 is stored transmits apackets containing a request service description file, the ID (“ID1”) ofthe home server 1, and the address of the appliance TE8 (step S29). Uponreceiving the packets, the server 100 performs service retrievalprocessing as shown in FIG. 14 with respect to only a servicedescription file as a retrieval target (of an appliance under thecontrol of the home server 1), of the service description files storedin the service description file storing unit 2 of the server 100, whichis stored in correspondence with the ID “ID1” of the home server 1 (stepS30). The subsequent processing (steps S31 to S34) is the same as thatin steps S11 to S14 in FIG. 13.

FIG. 18 shows the case wherein an ID is assigned to the home server 1 bymaking one of the appliances TE1 to TE9 connected to the home server 1transmit a packet (steps S21 to S28 in FIG. 18). However, the presentinvention is not limited to this case. The home server 1 may transmit apacket to the server 100 to acquire an ID, and the server 100 may assignan ID to the home server 1. The ID assigned to the home server 1 istransmitted from the server 100 to the home server 1. The home server 1broadcasts a packet containing the received ID into the home network tonotify each of the appliances TE1 to TE9 of the ID. Each of theappliances TE1 to TE9 extracts the ID from the received packet andstores it. The subsequent processing operation (steps S29 to S34 in FIG.18) is the same as that described above.

Of the appliances TE1 to TE9, the cell phone as the appliance TE9 doesnot always exist in the home network. If, for example, the printer asthe appliance TE8 selects the cell phone as the appliance TE9 in stepS32 as shown in FIG. 20, a service calling packet to the appliance TE9is transmitted from the home server 1 to the appliance TE9 through theInternet (step S33).

(2) In the second case, the server 100 need not necessarily have theservice description file storing unit 2. The server 100 may have anarrangement like the one shown in FIG. 22 (second arrangement example).Obviously, the server 100 may have an arrangement like the one shown inFIG. 17. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 17 denote the same partsin FIG. 22, and only different portions will be described. In thearrangement shown in FIG. 22, the service description file storing unit2, registration unit 3, and ID assigning unit 102 are omitted.

Assume that each home server 1 stores the address “add100” of the server100. There is no need to register the service description files of therespective appliances TE1 to TE9 in the server 100.

This operation will be described below with reference to FIG. 23. One(e.g., the printer as the appliance TE8) of the appliances TE1 to TE9transmits packets containing a request service description file and theaddress of the appliance TE8 to the home server 1 (step S41). Althoughthe home server 1 can perform service retrieval processing by using itsown matchmaker unit 11, the home server 1 can entrust service retrievalprocessing to the server 100 for some reason. In entrusting serviceretrieval processing to the server 100, the home server 1 transmits thepackets transmitted from the appliance TE8 in step S41 from the secondtransceiver unit 5 to the server 100 (step S42). At this time, theaddress of the transmission source of the packets is the address of thehome server 1. Upon receiving the packets, the server 100 performsservice retrieval processing as shown in FIG. 14 with respect to theservice description files as retrieval targets stored in the servicedescription file storing unit 2 of the home server 1 (step S43). In stepS43, the server 100 accesses the home server 1 to receive the servicedescription file registered in the home server 1, and performs serviceretrieval processing like that shown in FIG. 14. The subsequentprocessing (steps S44 to S47) is the same as that in steps S11 to S14 inFIG. 13.

(3) FIG. 24 shows the third arrangement example of the server 100. Notethat the same reference numerals as in FIG. 17 denote the same parts inFIG. 24, and only different portions will be described. In thearrangement shown in FIG. 24, the ID assigning unit 102 is omitted. Theservice description files stored in the service description file storingunit 2 are the service description files of an indefinite number ofappliances (at least appliances other than the appliances TE1 to TE9)which can access the server 100. One of the indefinite number ofappliances is called appliance TE100. Note that the appliance TE100 alsohas an arrangement like the one shown in FIG. 3 or 4. The applianceTE100 is, for example, an appliance having a service function for timeadjustment. Service description files of services which can be used withall kinds of appliances which can access the server 100 are calledpublic services and are registered in the service description filestoring unit 2.

This operation will be described with reference to FIG. 25. Theappliance TE100 transmits packets containing the service descriptionfile of the appliance TE100 and the address of the appliance TE100 (stepS51). The server 100 stores the service description file and the addressof the appliance TE100 contained in the packets as shown in FIG. 7 (stepS52).

In this state, the TV set as the appliance TE2 transmits packetscontaining a request service description file and the address of theappliance TE2 to the home server 1 (step S53). Upon receiving thepackets, the home server 1 performs service retrieval processing asshown in FIG. 14 with respect to the service description files asretrieval targets stored in the service description file storing unit 2of the home server 1 (step S54). If at least one service descriptionfile can be obtained as a retrieval result, a retrieval result outputunit 16 transmits it to the appliance TE2 as the request source (stepS56). The subsequent processing (steps S57 to S59) is the same as thatin steps S12 to S14 in FIG. 13 and that in steps S32 to S34 in FIG. 20.

Assume that no service description file can be obtained in step S54,which is identical or similar to the service and condition described inthe request service description file. In this case, in order to requestan external matchmaker unit to perform service retrieval processing, aservice retrieval requesting unit 19 of the matchmaker unit 11 of thehome server 1 transmits, to the server 100, the packets transmitted fromthe appliance TE2 in step S53 upon adding the address of the home server1 thereto (step S57).

Upon receiving the packets, the server 100 performs service retrievalprocessing as shown in FIG. 14 with respect to the service descriptionfiles as retrieval targets stored in the service description filestoring unit 2 of the server 100 (step S58). The server 100 thentransmits the retrieval result to the home server 1 (step S59). Thesubsequent processing (steps S57 to S59) is the same as that in stepsS12 to S14 in FIG. 13 and that in steps S32 to S34 in FIG. 20.

Third Embodiment

A matchmaker unit 11 and appliances TE1 to TE9 may have also thefollowing functions.

(A) In the first embodiment, the function retrieval unit 13 of thematchmaker unit 11 performs service retrieval (function retrieval) byusing both input and output items. However, the present invention is notlimited to this. Service retrieval may be performed by using only aninput item or output item. Alternatively, service retrieval may beperformed by using only or a combination of items. If, for example, aword is described in only the input item of the input and output itemsof a request service description file (if no word is described in theoutput item or a word expressing “no designation” is described in theoutput item), only the processing in steps S102 and S103 in FIG. 14 isperformed (step S104 is not executed). In this case, the servicesimilarity of a service description file obtained as a retrieval resultcandidate is the similarity between the word described in the input itemof the service description file and the word described in the input itemof the request service description file.

Assume that “message” is designated as the input item of a requestservice description file, and no output item is designated. In thiscase, the function retrieval unit 13 obtains a service description file,as a retrieval result candidate, in which not only a service ofdisplaying an input message but also a service of reading aloud aredescribed (for example, a service description file in which “message” isdescribed as an input item, and “displayable” or “reading aloud” as anoutput item).

Alternatively, even if both input and output items are designated in arequest service description file, function retrieval may be performed byusing only one of them. The appliance which has transmitted the requestservice description file may designate which one of the items is to beused. In this case, it suffices if the appliance transmits informationdesignating one of the input and output items to the matchmaker unit 11(e.g., a home server 1), together with a request service descriptionfile in the same packets. Although function retrieval is performed withrespect to both the input item and the output item, the matchmaker unit11 itself may switch to service retrieval using only the input item ofthe input and output items when a desired service description file(exhibiting a service similarity, condition similarity, or priorityequal to or higher than a predetermined threshold) cannot be retrieved.

(B) An adjusting unit 20 adjusts the maximum value of the retrievalprocessing time in the function retrieval unit 13 or a conditionretrieval unit 14 in accordance with the number of received requestservice description files (the number of service retrieval requests).If, for example, the number of service retrieval requests is equal to ormore than a predetermined threshold, the maximum value of the retrievalprocessing time is set be smaller than a reference value.

In transmitting a request service description file, each of theappliances TE1 to TE9 also transmits option information for designatinga maximum ontology distance (a reference for a similarity thresholdbetween words defining a similarity range) used in a vocabularyacquiring unit 17 (a reference for a similarity threshold between wordsdefining a similarity range), the number of retrieval results (thenumber of service description files to be obtained as retrievalresults), or the like, together with the request service descriptionfile. This option information may be stored in advance in (a serviceretrieval requesting unit 63 of) each of the appliances TE1 to TE9. Inthis case, the adjusting unit 20 adjusts the maximum ontology distanceused in the vocabulary acquiring unit 17, the number of retrievalresults (the number of service description files obtained as retrievalresults) and the like on the basis of the option information transmittedtogether with the request service description file.

(C) The ontology to be stored in a vocabulary storing unit 15 may be theone downloaded from the Internet or the like.

(D) Each of the appliances TE1 to TE9 may transmit, to the home server1, information (e.g., URL) indicating the storage location of a servicedescription file instead of transmitting a service description fileitself to the home server 1.

When, for example, a new service description file is generated by adescription file generating unit 66 of one of the appliances TE1 to TE9,a service registration unit 62 stores the file in a predeterminedstorage area (e.g., the appliance TE7) on the home network, and notifiesthe home server 1 of a packet containing a URL representing the storagearea. In this case, upon receiving the packet containing the URL, thehome server 1 accesses URL contained in the packet, acquires a servicedescription file, and registers it in the service description filestoring unit 2.

If the service description files of the respective appliances TE1 to TE9are stored in a fixed area, the home server 1 may store in advance theURL notified from each of the appliances TE1 to TE9, and mayperiodically access the respective appliances to update servicedescription files.

(E) The system in the embodiments described above may use not onlypackets but also datagram, frame, message, segment, etc, fortransmitting various kind of data and files.

As has been described, according to the embodiments described above, anoptimal appliance which has a requested service and state can beretrieved by using the semantic correlation (e.g., an ontology) betweenwords or expressions indicating the functions (services) or states ofappliances used in the home. In addition, dynamic, ad-hoc liaison can beestablished between the respective appliances.

In addition, it can be assumed that appliances (home appliances) used inthe home, e.g., the appliances TE1 to TE9 in FIG. 1, have various kindsof functions (services) and various states (e.g., states having aplurality of meanings). There are restrictions unique to homeappliances. For example, home appliances have small calculationresources, are not necessarily kept powered on, and are required to bealmost fully automatic. According to the embodiments described above, afunction is retrieved on the basis of the semantic correlation betweenwords (words described in input and output items) representing therespective functions (services). Therefore, the present invention caneasily cope with diversification of functions and addition ofunpredictable new functions in the future.

Note that as the above retrieval function, the following known techniquemay be used: Katia Sycara, Seth Widoff, Matthias Klusch and Jianguo Lu.LARKS, “Dynamic Matchmaking Among Heterogeneous Software Agents inCyberspace.”, “Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems”, Vol. 5, p.173-203, 2002. Alternatively, the technique disclosed in “Extension ofRetrieval Conditions for Services”, NIKKEI Internet Technology, May2002, p. 46 may be used. Assume that there is need for decision ofsynonyms or the like. In this case, as terms appearing in informationitems associated with a program language for input/output typedefinitions and the like, terms in Japanese Patent Application No.2002-283974 previously filed by the present inventor.

In addition, if expressions to be used are limited to those expressingthe states of appliances which are unique to home appliances, rulesexpressing the correlations between the expressions can be easilycreated. In addition, by entrusting service retrieval processing toexternal servers and reducing the data amount of retrieval results inaccordance with available communication bands, the present invention canbe flexibly applied within limited calculation resources, memoryresources, and communication resources of home appliances.

As described above, according to the above embodiments, in accordancewith various kinds of requests from appliances, optimal appliances forthe requests can be easily retrieved from appliances which are assumedto have various kinds of functions (services) and various states. Inaddition, a service retrieval apparatus and method suitable for the usein the home can be provided.

The techniques of the present invention described in the embodiments ofthe present invention can be distributed by being stored ascomputer-executable programs in recording media such as magnetic disks(e.g., flexible disks and hard disks), optical disks (e.g., CD-ROMs andDVDs), and semiconductor memories.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A service retrieval apparatus which retrieves, froma plurality of service functions of a plurality of appliances, a servicefunction identical or similar to a first function requested from a firstappliance which is one of the appliances, comprising: (a) means forstoring a plurality of service data items corresponding to the servicefunctions respectively, each of the service data items including a wordcorresponding to an input item of corresponding one of the servicefunctions, a word corresponding to an output item of the correspondingone of the service functions, and a condition including or not includinga numerical range; (b) means for storing a plurality of words andinformation representing correlations among the words on the basis ofmeanings of the words; (c) means for receiving a request data item whichis transmitted from the first appliance and includes a wordcorresponding to the input item of the first function, and a conditionincluding or not including a numerical range; (d) means for acquiring,from the words stored in the means (b), a first word set which is a setof words having meanings identical or similar to a meaning of the wordcorresponding to the input item in the request data item; (e) means forretrieving, from the service data items, a group of service data itemsin each of which one word of the first word set is included as the inputitem; (f) means for calculating a condition similarity between thecondition in each service data item of the group and the condition inthe request data item, to set the condition similarity to a maximumvalue (1) in a first case where the condition in the request data itemand the condition in the service data item of the group coincide witheach other, (2) in a second case where the numerical range in theservice data item of the group is included in the numerical range in therequest data item, and (3) in a third case where one of the condition inthe request data item and the condition in the service data item of thegroup can be converted to the other, and to set the condition similarityto a value near zero in a case other than the first case, the secondcase and the third case; (g) means for calculating a priority of eachservice data item of the group on the basis of a first similaritybetween the word corresponding to the input item in the service dataitem and the word corresponding to the input item in the request dataitem and the condition similarity; and (h) means for transmitting a listto the first appliance, the list including at least the priority and anaddress of an appliance of the appliances which correspond to the eachservice data item of the group.
 17. An apparatus according to claim 16,wherein each of the appliances is a home appliance used in a home. 18.An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the appliances include aplurality of home appliances connected to a first network, and the firstappliance is one of the home appliances, and the means (e) retrieves thegroup from the service data items of the home appliances.
 19. Anapparatus according to claim 16, further comprising: means fortransmitting the request data item received by the means (c) to anexternal device through a second network; means for receiving a messagewhich is transmitted from the external device and contains at least anaddress of a second appliance of the appliances, the second appliancecorresponding to a service data item which includes the input and outputitems representing a service function identical or similar to the firstfunction; and means for transmitting the message to the first appliance.20. An apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising: means fortransmitting the request data item received by the means (c) to anexternal device connected to the service retrieval apparatus through asecond network; means for receiving a message which is transmitted fromthe external device and contains an address of an external appliancecorresponding to a service data item which includes the input and outputitems representing a service function different from the servicefunctions and identical or similar to the first function; and means fortransmitting the message to the first appliance.
 21. An apparatusaccording to claim 16, further comprising: means for acquiring, from thewords stored in the means (b), a second word set which is a set of wordshaving meanings identical or similar to a meaning of the wordcorresponding to the output item in the request data item, and whereinthe means (e) retrieves the group in each of which one word of the firstword set is included as the input item and one word of the second wordset is included as the output item, and the means (g) calculates thepriority on the basis of the first similarity, the condition similarity,and a second similarity between the word corresponding to the outputitem in the each service data item of the group and the wordcorresponding to the output item in the request data item.
 22. Anapparatus according to claim 16, further comprising: means for adjustinga data amount of the list in accordance with a bandwidth which can beused for communication between the first appliance and the serviceretrieval apparatus.